WASHINGTON (RNS) The unexpected decision by the justices immediately affects five states in which federal appeals courts had struck down bans against gay marriage: Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Utah.

(RNS) Richard Dieter, executive director of the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, said the Oklahoma case would add momentum to efforts to halt lethal injection until the process is better understood and there is more transparency to what states are trying to do.

(RNS) Local officials in Florida this week rejected an atheist monument proposed for a courthouse lawn, another example of the hurdles religious minorities will face as they continue to press for equal access to displays on public lands.

(RNS) The judge ruled that a restriction approved by the state’s voters in 2004 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

(RNS) The Oklahoma government should not play favorites among different faiths.

(RNS) A federal judge has struck down Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment that would have prohibited judges in the state from considering Shariah law.

(RNS) Muslims around the world have varying views about what Shariah entails, and its role in personal and public life. So what exactly is Shariah? Here are five facts that might help make sense of this complex and often misunderstood term.

(RNS) Muslim Americans routinely provide emergency aid following natural disasters, but the Oklahoma tornado is special because of the anti-Muslim sentiment in the state. Muslims increased their outreach, convinced that when Oklahomans meet Muslims, prejudices will fade.

(RNS) There is, alas, no good answer. Unless, that is, believers can arrive at a deeper understanding of God’s omnipotence.

“Well, I thought God just answered one prayer to let me be ok, but he answered both of them…because this was my last, my second prayer.”

(RNS) After losing steam in recent years, the anti-Shariah movement has scored a string of victories by, ironically, leaving the words “Shariah” and “Islam” out of bills that restrict state courts from considering foreign law.

MUSKOGEE, Okla. (RNS) A district judge in Oklahoma who sentenced a 17-year-old boy to 10 years of church attendance is standing by his sentence as the right thing to do — even if it may not have been the constitutional thing to do. By Greg Horton.

(RNS) The Oklahoma state senate voted Thursday (April 5) to kill a bill that would have prohibited state judges from considering foreign laws, including Islamic law, in their decisions. By Omar Sacirbey.